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12 Responses to “Heil To The Chief!”

89'er says:

Trump’s complete illiteracy regarding the symbolism and traditions of the Presidency continues to amaze.

He has no clue and no curiosity about how the office has been used by prior occupants to call on the aspirations, hopes and better selves of all Americans. This is true of prior GOP and Dem Presidents equally.

Instead we are treated to narcissistic, fact-free and truth challenged diatribes that often include a rehash of his electoral college victory while assualting american institution’s and republican traditions (small r).

My son is at the Jamboree and was at the speech last night. I haven’t had a chance to speak with him yet about the event.

I can’t fault the BSA for inviting the President. He is, after all, the President, and the President is always invited to the Jamboree. Ironically, I think the BSA tried to cut off possible politicization of the event before it started. Scouts were prohibited from bringing in signs to the event, or event blank paper and posterboard. And then 30 seconds in, the President called Washington a cesspool or a sewer, which was pretty disrespectful to the 600 or so scouts from the National Capital Area Council (Washington DC and surrounding suburbs), many of whom have parents who work for the Federal government or the military. And it went downhill from there.

Of course, many of the Scouts (and leaders?) jumped right into the rally-type statements by the President about the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare, President Obama, and Hillary Clinton. That is their right of course, under the First Amendment, but it had the effect of turning what should be a unifying event into another example of the political divisions in our country. I wish the BSA leaders at the event sitting with their scouts had been able to enforce a more unifying sense of decorum on the Scouts.

I hope that the partisanship exhibited during the speech was a one-time event. The last thing the BSA needs is to viewed as just another partisan group, when it should be representing all Americans.

Hmm. I am not sure if comparing the Boy Scouts to the Hitler Youth will be a winning political argument . . .

> I hope that the partisanship exhibited during the speech was a one-time event.

Whitney: Would love an update once you talk with your son. My sense — based on what I have read — is that there is a fair amount of anti-liberal/leftist sentiment among rank-and-file scouts precisely because the Scouts have been so targeted — by the same sorts of people who hate Trump. The controversy of homosexual troop leaders being one example.

I would not be surprised if scouts recognized Trump as, at least, an enemy of their enemies . . .

I think that on the whole, the Scouting movement is more conservative than the country overall, at least in part for some of the reasons you’ve identified. So I’m sure that the Jamboree had plenty of Trump supporters (and voters, amongst the leaders). But I’m told that one of the bands that played at the Jamboree gave some anti-Trump commentary during their show, and were loudly applauded, so I’m guessing there are plenty of non-Trump supporters, too.

I would hope that Whitney’s son would take some comfort in knowing that this attack on Trump and, indirectly, the Boy Scouts themselves is actually quite predictable, even ordinary. Democrats have been comparing Republican presidents and presidential candidates to Hitler for at least 50 years.

As a scout leader in a country that was occupied by actual Nazis back in the day, this criticism of Trump is certainly justified.

Local scouts, as they knew the hiking trails through the Ardennes quite thoroughly, smuggled hundreds of people out of harm’s way during the occupation, which is pretty impressive for 14-year-olds. Jews, disbled people, Christian Democrats, even downed American and British pilots.